Bill OK'd by Senate Commerce Committee

By Eddie Goldman (September 19, 2002)

As expected, the Senate Commerce Committee approved without objection Thursday the Professional Boxing Amendments Act, S. 2550, which would create the United States Boxing Administration to oversee professional boxing.

The sponsor of this legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said the bill was needed to reform boxing, which he called "one of the saddest spectacles in American sport today." The committee also approved without objection a friendly amendment by Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) to study the issue of glove weight and design and to see if reducing glove size would lead to fewer brain injuries in boxers.

Since hearings had already been held when this bill was introduced in May, discussion of the bill took less than two minutes at the committee's Thursday morning meeting.

The next step will be for the Senate to decide if and when it will consider this bill.

A version of this bill has already been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep Peter King (R-NY). The house version, H.R.5006, was introduced on June 24, 2002, and referred on July 16 to the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. No action has yet been taken on the House version of this bill.

Look for more discussion of the issue of a national boxing commission on "Knockout Radio," exclusively on Maxboxing.com.


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Senate Committee OK's National Boxing Commission!

By Karl Freitag

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, by voice vote, has approved a bill establishing the United States Boxing Administration (a national boxing commission). The legislation, if signed into law, would appoint a national boxing tzar to protect the health, safety and general interests of boxers through oversight, administration of federal boxing laws, and the issuing of new regulations in consultation with state boxing commissions. All boxers would be required to be licensed by the USBA every four years, and all promoters, managers, judges, sanctioning organizations and broadcasters would have to be licensed by the USBA every two years. The USBA would have the authority to conduct investigations (with subpoena power). Additionally, the measure requires the USBA to maintain a confidential medical registry of boxing injuries. The Committee's action today sends the bill to the full Senate for its consideration. Approval is also needed from the House of Representatives and the President before the bill becomes law.
9/19/2002


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Bigger gloves for boxers?

The Senate Commerce Committee this morning accepted without objection (but with verbal kudos offered by Chairman Hollings and Ranking Member John McCain) an amendment offered by Sen. Cleland (D-GA) calling for the Dept of Labor to commission a study of boxing gloves to determine if increasing the amount of padding (weight) by two ounces will significantly reduce the number of serious or fatal injuries in professional boxing. The study will also open the door for other glove issues, such as the location of the padding in the glove -- examining whether some manufacturers place too much of the internal padding around the wrist instead of over the fist. "I believe this will further open the door for several other glove-related issues," said the Georgia Boxing Commission's Thomas Mishou.
9/19/2002

Hey, Ice, by any chance do you know if the Dems and Republicans are voting along party lines with this issue? Or has it been a split vote? I'm curious to know, seeing as the Republican party has in the last 20 yrs. totally done a turn-around on government interfering in/regulating stuff...

McCain has been the forerunner for boxing safety for many
years, it sucked that he didn't make President,
he was truely the ideal guy for the job, but it would have probibly interfered(sp) with ability to continue fighting
for better standards in boxing. He's DA MAN!!!

AnotherLoverHolenYoHead said:

John McCain is the main proponent of the legislation and he is a Republican. McCain has been trying to get this passed for years and he is a HUGE boxing fan and wants to protect the fighters. This is a Republican issue.

dont we have more important things to be concerned about?

gee John McCain...your getting all soft on our arses...

*you* should be spending more time trying to figure out why our government we were investigating three of the 9/11 hijackers two weeks prior to 9/11 yet still allowed them to board the plane...

shouldnt we be wondering why as early as 98 our government was aware of planes to topple over symbols of our country with the use of airplanes...yet, when an fbi report was filed (and sent to the Bush Admin) stating that there were students interested in only *flying* and *not* landing a plan, we did nothing...

*you* should be more concerned how a sad woman like Anna Nicole Smith is allowed to make a complete fool of herself on national tv..NOW *THAT* is an American Tragedy that needs your attention...


(ooopsies, sorry ice for thread jocking)...one the one!!!

IceNine said:

You mean Republicans sponsored the bill...but how are the Democrats voting, or does it have full support from everyone? What do the boxers have to say about it--will it affect them in a positive way or will it change how they box?

SkletonKee said:

Heh, heh--Ice is the last person allowed to complain about thread jocking!

SkletonKee said:

this shit is a subject for a world peace finding coalition.
boxing is the subject at hand, and we would like our entertainment to be as safe for the participants as possible.
we would like to see the great ones still capable of doing short math in the future.
we would like them to have a life after boxing instead of being ripped of until they have to resort to criminality to survive.
Shit, now that i think of it, I WANT TO BOX!!!

00769BAD said:

your right...only a peace finding coalition can figure out the natural disaster that is Anna Nicole Smith...

SkletonKee said:

Damn... they had that bitch on the telie today,
she couldn't fit her ass in a bathtub... whut the fuck!!!

AnotherLoverHolenYoHead said:

Ahhh...

Yeah, the bill is getting support from both parties and the Democrats have proposed legislation for investigating glove size in order to protect boxers.

From what I understand, the bill passed in 2 minutes.

IceNine said:

I totally fail to see why the government needs to get involved in private sports. What's next...changing the rules of baseball?

And John McCain is a Democrat in Republican clothing.

teller said:

When you were playing with your G.I. Joes you were playing with the replicas of John McCain...
He's a true war hero, a REAL AMERICAN HERO if you will.
unlike the Bush's Clintons and other jerks in the goverment
that are so quick to want to send someone off to die.
i give a fuck about party lines... He's an honest Man.
now if that makes him a Dem., what are you sayin about the Rep.s
THINK ABOUT IT!!!
as to changing rules of other sports...
why do you think the saleries of players
have reached the millions.
why do you think the paddings and other
protective gear has been modified over the years.
if i remember rite Bush was puting in a presidential hand in a baseball conflict... am i wrong???
again,
THINK ABOUT IT!!!
[This message was edited Sun Sep 22 8:50:51 PDT 2002 by 00769BAD]

00769BAD said:

I'm not addressing his honesty--I'm just saying he needs to go sit on the left side of the aisle because that's the way he votes. Being a war hero does not mean you understand economics or what is good for the country on a political level.

teller said:

TOUCHE!!!
as does knowing, and understanding the workings of ECONOMICS not mean one is inclined to vote for the people.
he's an honest man with the peoles needs FOREMOST in his mind and actions. a reason that his party foresakes him.
i'm not knocking you, i'm just saying, it's the poloticians
that are distroying our goverment...
i'ld rather have a real person TRY and run the gov.
than these shady fucks that have been there.

00769BAD said:

personally, i'd really like to see Jesse Ventura make it to the white house...definitely honest, non-politician type guy...